Thursday, July 14, 2016

City records alarming rise in burglaries

Due to unfilled vacancies it has become a challenge for the Police Department to deploy additional police personnel for day / night beats

Incidents of burglaries are on the rise in the city. This is happening inspite of police personnel creating awareness among the public by distributing leaflets, conducting awareness programmes and house visits.

The theft cases which was 44 in 2013, increased to 58 in 2014, and jumped to 82 in 2015. Already 56 cases have registered this year (2016). This apart, as many as 123 incidents of thefts due to house breaks during day and night time have been registered in 2015, against 106 in 2014.

About 350 motor vehicle theft cases were registered in 2014, which increased to 356 in 2015, and in the last six months already 202 cases have been booked. The heartening factor is that about 60 per cent of the cases have been solved.

In a good move the petty theft cases like pickpocket, purse lifting, mobile and laptop thefts and others registered has come down. As many as 119 cases were registered in 2013, while 108 in 2014; 82 in 2015. This year 53 cases have been registered.

With rapid rise in urban population and also due to migration in search of labour and better job opportunities, the crime rate in the city has shot up but the strength of the police force has remained the same without increasing proportionately. This has been attributed as the main reason for the criminals to have a free hand. But Police officials keep insisting that people should change their mindset and take preventive steps to protect their property.

Any kind of safe locker, big locks or even computer locks can be broken by the skilled burglar. Within no time the thieves breaks can gain entry into house, steal the valuables and vanish. As most of the reported cases of burglary were from residential areas, cops advice residents that burglary rates can be brought down by shifting their valuables to banks when they are out of station, or to alert police personnel.

Sources in the police department confessed that with the ever rise in population and shortage of staff it has become a tough task for officials to investigate reported incidents of burglaries and others crimes. They opine that by only by recruiting adequate staff it is possible to deploy more police on beats, both during day as well as night time, which helps to bring down the crime rate. With the city poised to grow rapidly in the coming years, the government should take a call in this regard, added a senior police officer who did not wish to be named.

CCRB Inspector Mallesh says: 'Most people still fail to inform their nearest police station whenever they lock their house and go out of station for long periods. They should understand that mere locks will not protect a house from being burgled. Residents should keep valuables in bank lockers and inform cops whenever they go out so that police beat will be increased in the neighbourhood of the house.'